The opening day in Melbourne looked like a microcosm of American tennis over the last few years, with Andy Roddick cruising, and the U.S. “B” squad struggling to stay around.

Roddick walked past Czech Jan Hajek 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, but fellow American and No. 18 seed Sam Querrey exited 8-6 in the fifth set against Poland’s Lukasz Kubot. Querrey looked to struggle on a blustery day in cooler conditions that Roddick described as “a bit weird.” Querrey exits in the first round on the heels of a fourth-round exit last year.

No. 16 seed Mardy Fish quickly found himself down two sets against Romanian Victor Hanescu, but threw in some aggressive serve and volley play to fight back 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

“When I went off to my match, Mardy was trailing two sets and it did not look good,” Roddick said. “But he pulled it out and it was a great effort. I tell you what — Mardy would not have won that match two years ago.”

The few number of overall American men in the draw took a further hit when vaunted comer Ryan Harrison unceremoniously exited to unheralded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.

Among the Top 10 seeds, world No. 2 Roger Federer looked unhindered in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over a potentially tough opponent, Slovak Lukas Lacko. Other Top 10 winners, all in straights, were Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco.

No. 12 seed Gael “Force” Monfils looked like an early out when he went down 0-2 sets against Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker, but he kept his head against an opponent who has trouble finishing.

“I think he get tighter and then start to struggle physically,” said Monfils, who dropped three games in the last two sets. “I find a solution and then just dive on it. I just try to play simple, hold it, like move him a bit, he knows I can run. So it was just basic stuff in my mind. But I know Thiemo a bit. I know sometimes he snap in the head. It’s a weakness for him. So we play with that.”

Also on the upset tip, German Florian Mayer ousted No. 23 seed Nikolay Davydenko in four sets. No. 25 Al Montanes survived a meeting with German-Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5 in the fifth.

Federer spoke on next playing the Frenchman Simon, who he has struggled against in the past.

“It’s up to me to mentally try to forget those matches or remember the good things I did, because both matches we did play against each other were close,” Federer said. “I mean, one no excuses but I came in, it was the back issue at the Masters. But, look, he played well. He was on a great run there, playing the finals I think in Madrid, beating Rafa there. So he’s beaten the best in the world really. If he can do it once, he always feels he can do it again, which he did against me.”

TGiT – so glad you voiced that – I was incensed as well! That’s some messed-up logic. The other guy (don’t know his name) asks – so you think they should change the surface for Rafa? Cahill hesitated, and I am sure he thought they should, but he thought better to come right out to say it!

Even so, he says he doesn’t count that one in the head to head because of the surface. So he is making up the rules for the h2h to come out in Rafa’s favor. That’s pretty mind-boggling to be a commentator and be so biased.

Funches is the one who made a very condescending comment directed at posters here before the start of the U.S. Open saying Rafa had no chance. In his mind everyone was foolish for entertaining the possibility Rafa could win. He disappeared for quite a while after looking so foolish.

Djokovic also cruised against Granollers and many people are now comparing him to his 2008 version. Is the old Nole self resurrected? I hope so. But next tests Troiki and Verdasco won’t be easy.

Interesting things about Nole’s match: his backhand was working perfectly, he won many points with it. I got to see a lot of those awesome bh down the line, his signature shot. His groundstrokes were crisp and accurate, forehand misfired a little, but otherwise good. Looks like the new head speed racket is giving him some extra edge because he was serving at an average speed of 194kmh, 7 aces, very good placement. Overall he looked very dangerous. I’m dying for a rematch of the USO semis 2010 against Fed.

“I’m dying for a rematch of the USO semis 2010 against Fed.”
Is that because you feel Djokovic hasn’t got sufficient recognition for that victory, whereas beating a clearly in form Federer now could hardly be ignored and might even suggest Djokovic has Fed’s number?

This is a nice article on Dimitrov, following his 1st round victory, by Steve Tignor. Contador, about halfway down the article, on your right, you’ll see a reference to a piece on Fognini by the same author. Definitely worthy of a chuckle or two.

I am not worried about Novaks ground game, imo his best attribute, along with an outstanding return game. That serve and transition game from the service line on in to net play is imo what is holding him back, as well as maybe a better “tactical” plan when playing the top guys.
But then who in the &@!*(? am I…What do I know? :)
Well…….saying that,,,,,,confidence cures a ton of ills.. This is not being overly critical, its just I am a fan of his also ( disclaimer; 2nd to Fed of course )and love his technique on his groundies. When he gets “it”, he’ll be #1.

grendel – love the article. really looking forward to see this kid play. the court was not televised yesterday, hopefully they will have him on one of the show courts tomorrow. he plays a big name wawrinka.

I think Nadal will get the triple bagel. This guy Daniel is horrible. The commentator said he has 1 win and 22 losses on hardcourt in his career. I did not verify if this stat is correct. Daniel won only 4 points in the 1st set. Wow.

And stupid Chardy… Tomic will definitely rise into the top 20 or 30 within 2011 or 2012, I think, but tonight needn’t have been his moment. I guess Lopez will beat him next round but still… I think Jeremy was a bit hungover or something; so many double faults, so many UEs…

This guy either does not want to move, can’t move, afraid to move, doesn’t know how to move, oh…wait….thank goodness…over to the womens match and it’s during a changeover…whew! Oh wait back to Rafa…and the guy has taken knee bandage off his knee……now we will see some real tennis. Geez…feel bad for the guy now..

Daniel, if nadal was hurt and concerned about his knees he should have retired that minute. I was referring to the entire match as pathetic. I the guy was hurt he should have pulled out and let a lucky loser play.

Radwanskas trainer may have done the trick. Feel bad for date krumm.

The people in rod laver must be seriously POed. Two terrible matches so far. I think I am plummeting in the brackets too.

If you look at the standings you should see points tiebreak and comments. You can write comments on your page and other peoples. Nice way to say hi to people. I think you can see all comments on a section smack talk?

DelPotro started slow, missing his big forehands. Sela looked better actually for the first few games. But DelPotro seems to have found his range and confidence and is hitting some nice shots and moving well. Its early in the match, but he may be recovering fast.

T.V., exactly my impressions. I actually picked Sela for the upset here in my bracket because I was unimpressed with Delpo last week and Sela is such a fighter. Of course, the match is nowhere near over, but I’m starting to regret my pick. I thought that Delpo would be making many more errors and didn’t expect his FH to be quite so cracking. Sela isn’t playing that great at the moment either.

Well, I only have one eye on the match now – I was mainly referring to the game where he lost serve and then Delpo’s following one. But now it looks like he is doing pretty well again. I hope this isn’t in straights, at least.

Of course I want delpo to win, but I am just happy to see him play. Everyone just has such nice things to say about him-commentators, fellow players.
Can’t wait for him to catch back up in his tennis.
C’Mon JM, get that break back!

I wonder what the betting odds on del port are in this tourney. I remember actually thinking they were way short last time I checked. He looks good. I think I have him winning this match and losing to baggy.

Regardless of Delpo ‘ s result, u can obviously see by his monster FH, serve and BH he is going to be Rafa’s big hurdle in the future of staying #1. He is just lacking movement and consistency from not playing., but his monster game is like no other, a new bull has arrived and Rafa better tally up th GS titles while he can. There will be a new Sheriff in town very soon.

If I hadn’t “met” roger first AND Rafa wouldnt have won that Wimbledon ’08 match, I could be a massive Rafa fan.
Just saw him on an ESPN interview. Great kid.
When I SEE him speak its harder for me to distrust his humility and simplicity.
I hardly admit it, but i also love to watch him play (except for that boring wimby final this year).
My favorite thing is to watch him run out into the doubles alley on the backhand, stop, put his feet together and stretch for the shot. Every time I think its just out of his reach,he’s just too off balance, but he so often gets it in.
Ah well, my allegiance is to Mr. Federer and while I can admire Rafa for a moment here, my focus must remain with roger.
Kill em dead, fed.

thanks for the tignor link! lmao at his desciption of fogini!! hahaha….that’s why i love watching him…bound to be some drama, count on it!

and of course dimitrov…oh to be there last night at court #10!

thanks Eric. i know a choke but like i said, finally watching a match now. well then, good on tomic . just frustrated at my own bad picking. it’s all good. would be good to see tomic have a chance to play rafa.

Okay scineram. I guess we’ll see. The key will be to not get injured, obviously. I sometimes wonder if his movement could be exploited because of his size/height. So far, Murray has a v. good H2H with him @ 5:1. Murray can neutralize Delpo’s power, or has been able to in the past. Anyhow, don’t have a crystal ball, so will just have to wait it out. I am interested, anyhow, to see how Delpo makes out here; I think I put him in until the quarters, which would be a good beginning to his comeback.

jane: checking results :( opposite of rocking, am sinking big time eg. Had charming Mr C doing rather well…. Did WTA and did not know many, many of players so chose on basis of whether I liked their names. So someone called “Charmaine Sleepers” or similar… is also destined for gr8 things :)

dari, I didn’t revise after the quallies were filled in either; would’ve picked dimitrov probably last night, etc. And then Davy and Querrey and Chardy all hurt me, esp Davy who I had in the quarters I think.

Aww, man, I’m finding myself rooting for and really liking Del Po. He was very endearing in his interview with Shriver. I guess I’d like to see him do well until he gets close to playing my favorite lefty.

Ur man looked very good today. Looks like he is ready to make a run. But so is the rest of the top 4, no?

But I for one am having a sharp eye on you ( and your twice entry ). This trickery is….well….not fair says I. Me thinks you are part of a grander scheme to secretly win the bracket challenge and thus, your ways up here are lulling us, yes especially yours truly, into a feeling of blissful tennis while you stomp on all comers involved in the ………”Bracket Challenge”.

Yeah, Delpo was sweet. Both Baggy and Gulbis losing… Sigh. Soda is winning though. It’s tough to get a strong sense of form in these early matches as the opponents are often so far apart in seeding or am unfamiliar with them in some cases etc. Wish Hewitt vs Nalby was at a time I could watch it. I picked Hewitt…

skeeze: how nice to have such a good laugh so early in the morning :) :) :) Brackets do not change much until final, I don’t think.
So far I’ve put good money on Chardy, Davy, Istomin and Gulbis….look what’s happened :( Must be bottom now ;)
Am sneakily doing another one far, far away and secret from tennisx and different, find them gr8 fun, and was second there, briefly. Some folk had NO points which must mean they thought Fed would lose to Lakko…tee hee, I am truly a giant among them..;)

What a final set in the makarova/ivanovic match! Ana held off at least 6 match point for a while, but couldn’t hold out any more :/
Still some great tennis, I wish Ana the best in continued improvement.
M – thank you, but I am very happy as I am, Fed for Life ;)

Tsonga has taken it into a fourth set. If he can manage to drag it into a fifth, who knows what will happen. He’s got the momentum of the crowd on his side now, and he’s had time to get used to Petzschner’s weird game.

Petzschner is a tricky player–he’s whippet-thin but he gets incredible pace on that flat forehand, good serve, good slice, good volleys. He gave Nadal fits at Wimbledon, also played a close straight-set match against Djokovic at USO.

Good i atleast like Hewitt’s attitude and fighting spirit.. if he meets rafa in quarters it would be quite interesting and hewitt has beat rafa at aussie open way back ago!! ofcourse things have changed now ;-) but hewitt will atleast not choke mentally which is the best part abt him.. he will put a fight

I only saw the first set of DelPo/Sela but I agree with Scineram and Skeezer. Whatever happens this week, DelPo is coming back and he’s coming strong. His H2H with Murray is irrelevant, all those losses were pre-breakthrough, remember what an insane learning curve DelPo took in ’09. He had huge inconsistencies yesterday but he wasn’t afraid to rip those shots. If he’s this good this soon, he’ll give Baggy a run for his money, and even if he loses, he’ll get a lot of small tournaments in before the clay starts, then a lot more matches before the French. I think he’ll be a force by then, I think he’ll be seeded (ie top 32) for Wimbledon.

Also very excited that Milos Raonic won- plus Dolgoplov and Dmitrov, a lot of exciting young blood into round two.

i thought Delpo looked pretty good last night. you could see the rust but those powerful shots. Hmmmm, I will relook where he is in the draw. I took him out next round to Baggy but maybe further? I guess depends on where he is. Don’t know if he can take out a true top tenner.

I saw 3 points only of Delpo. He was set point down against Sela – and then proceeded to blast 3 unreturnables. That’s enough. The guy is an absolute champion. Cannot be learnt. He had it, still has it. The rest is rust. Little bit of time. Agree with Scineram – health permitting.

Tomic has grown about a metre in last couple of years, and for his size, has strangely muted serve. But the quality is at last showing, and he’s only 18. Defeat of Chardy no fluke.

Agree with tennis vagabond re: young bloods in round two. I am esp. happy raonic won. Delpo looked good indeed. I think i have him to the quarters in my draw. To be seeded for the french he needs a lot of points though doesnt he? He is 245 rankings. But i suppose that is not until april and there are some hard court masters coming. Re: murrays h2h with delpo, just to clarify, i believe a number of those wins were in 2009, pre & post uso win. As for whether he can keep that advantage? Time will tell.

Wow go to sleep thinkin Hewitt wins and Baggy is out, wake up and Hewitt is gone ( must have been quite a match ) and Baggy wins. He must have found out Delpo won and wants to take on the big guy…who wouldn’t? Me wants to see some more monster FH’s….should be fun :)

Nalby winning is great but from Nadal quarters, the only one who can give him a match is Cilic, if he gets that far. You got have a killer serve to even have a chance aganist Nadal (unless you are Davydenko), something Nalbandian doesn’t have anymore.

grendel: thanx 4 kind comments re Andy on previous. I travel hopefully but hope I’m not still on the dang road two years from now :(
I saw Avatar in 3d at 02 arena. Think I was most upset by the dodgy politics, suddenly peaceful, gentle, blue creatures become crazed killers. Why couldn’t they have settled the whole thing with a game of chess? Agree that rubbish can be fun though, Daniel Craig as James Bond for one and also enjoyed RED with darling Dame H as an assassin, complete codswallop but such fun! Re Rufus S, the eyes have it but he’s got a nice bod. too, could’ve become a sports person, right shape.
I’m withholding judgement on Delboy, don’t think u can be quite so dismissive of Andy’s H2H as TV but I also feel Delboy will be prone to injury. That height plus that weight of shot. I seem to remember he had shoulder probs b4 wrist.
skeeze: r u “Davy Crockett”?

Well my bracket is totally ruined. I went with head over gut in both Hewitt-Nalby and Sela-Delpo and called both wrong. But where’s the fun in everyone making the easy picks anyway? But this will screw me deeply if Nalby and Delpo go deep…

Contador:”and of course dimitrov…oh to be there last night at court #10!” Well, here’s a tiny weeny taster:
“http://www.boozho.com/view.php?v=2f336d1d” We’re getting way ahead of ourselves – but supposing Dimitrov beats WaWa. Not very likely, but suppose. Then it wouldn’t be so outlandish for him to beat Monfils, should it be him. Roddick beckons – surely a step too far, but it’s not out of the question. Then who? It’s da man. Now most non-Bulgarian people who are eagerly scritinising Dimitrov tend, for obvious reasons, to be Fed fans. Doubtless this will change once Dimitrov gets more generally known, but for the moment this is so. So suddenly we all have to do a 180 degree turn – bit uncomfortable, eh?

margot – next time some crazed motorist parks his rangerover type vehicle just ahead of me, forcing me to stop; leaps out of his phallic monstrosity and comes storming across, ears wagging and face purple, I shall calmly wind down my window and politely ask him if he fancies a game of chess. I’ll let you know the response.

re Sewell’s nice bod. Yes, well, you’ll forgive me if I overlooked that, but I see what you mean. Scrum half, perhaps?

re Delpo – yes, injury may always be a problem, but we used to say that about Nadal. Frankly, he’s never injured any more, just has the odd snuffle. You sort of feel a huge frame must be vulnerable – but in practice, is it? It would be quite good to plot a graph, perhaps two. One, plotting height against injury, another plotting weight against injury. You could use the top 200 say as a reasonable sample. I wonder if we would necessarily get a straight line with a positive gradient (the intuitive suspicion) – or would the results be far more random?

About Murray/Delpo – I think Murray likes hard hitters, gives him a chance to weave his magic. But delPo is such an exceptional hitter that i doubt if this holds any more. So I would say: Murray to beat delPo if he is at all of. But if delPo is at the top of his game, he will overwhelm Murray. Mind you, is there anyone he wouldn’t overwhelm?

Eric, my husband got hosed when davy lost, he actually picked him to the semis.

I picked Nalby to lose to Ferrer and Delpo to lose to baggy. I think Delpo may go to 4th round now til Murray. Then he will get totally dusted. Nalbandian will be exhausted by the time he gets to Ferrer so I’m still feeling good about that pick.

I however, have Le Monf beating ROddick and getting to the quarters which based on his performance (should have lost had de Bakker not done an epic choke) is a big stretch. I think he’ll go out to Wawa likely but if by some slight chance not Roddick will take care of business.

Grendel said: “I’m dying for a rematch of the USO semis 2010 against Fed.”
Is that because you feel Djokovic hasn’t got sufficient recognition for that victory, whereas beating a clearly in form Federer now could hardly be ignored and might even suggest Djokovic has Fed’s number?

Yeah, exactly, you nailed it.

Also because I think both are at their best moment.

Great match between Nalby and Hewitt, already such a thriller in the first round. Amazing stuff, just gutted that Lleyton didn’t make it.

Biggest upset for me Davydenko. Gulbis was kind of expected, he’s so unpredictable, but I expected more from Kolya, specially since he was playing great again. Big disappointment.

On the girls side, shocked about Ivanovic’s loss and Dinara’s double bagel. These two are surely going through tough times. I’m sorry for both of them.

Rest of the top players cruised in their first day just like it is expected from them, but no less difficult a task. We always give so many things for granted.

grendel – great get on the court #10 bulgarian video! impossible to find anything like that on youtube anymore…youtube used to have those public uploads almost as they were video’d but it seems something now prevents these videos….??

maybe we all get ahead of ourselves with g-force…but hoping he has a great 2011. go grigor! i’ll be awake to watch him play wawa but the latest scheduled matches – federer v simon at 7pm in melbourne are impossible from my time zone. still say simon is playing his best tennis recently…not at all an easy one for federer.

looking at the schedule for tonight, on the wta side i see rebecca marino is playing schiavone 3rd match on margaret court….look forward to seeing how marino can do. i liked her serve is what i recall from watching her last summer.